The Ohio Department of Education has just released our 2016 – 2017 District Report Card. I am extremely pleased with the hard work and dedication of our teachers, administrators, staff and students. We know that students are learning and growing at a rate that is much improved each year.

The district was rated an A on the overall student progress component, which measures student improvement from one year to the next. This marks the third year that staff have shown dramatic improvement in increasing student learning. These results show that student growth is at its highest point in the last five years.

Student achievement also improved dramatically from last year in 15 of 24 areas. The district earned an overall grade of C in achievement, a grade better than we received last year. However, the percentage of students that must score proficient on the state test has increased (from 65% in 2015; to 75% in 2016, and now 80% in 2017) each of the last two years. That means that our progress is better than indicated by this letter grade.

While we are frustrated by the changing measurements, we commit to the community that it is our responsibility to ensure that students are successful, and we are confident that we will continue to improve and that we will meet the benchmark of 80% of students proficient by the 2019-2020 school year. We are currently exceeding our growth goal, and while we aren’t yet meeting our student achievement target, we have made significant improvements in the last two years. Our multi-year focus on curriculum alignment and instructional improvement is beginning to show in our results. As we continue this focus and expand the implementation of the Leader In Me to more of our buildings, we are well on our way to becoming one of the best performing school districts in the area.

Finally, the district received an A in its five-year graduation rate and a B in its four-year graduation rate. We are proud of the accomplishments of both the class of 2015 and the class of 2016, and the staff of Heath High School in preparing them for success after high school. Thank you for continuing to support our students and staff as we strive to best prepare our students for life after high school.

If you have questions about our results or would like to better understand the report card itself, please reach out.

Sincerely,Trevor Thomas,Superintendenttthomas@heath.k12.oh.us

Preparing Our Kids for Life

Learning is a lifelong process. That is why we work to develop intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities and aesthetic appreciation. These skills support students’ success in school and throughout their lives.

As we develop the curriculum for the district we strive toward a balanced, integrated and sequential system that provides a strong foundation and grows students’ ability to learn independently. We consider the wide range of developmental needs, learning styles and abilities of all students. And we continually re-assess our offerings to increase opportunities for student growth and learning.

The Leader in Me

When asked what skills are most important in today’s workforce, business leaders say they are looking for people who work well with others, are innovative, solution oriented and open to feedback. To support our students in developing those skills along with subject matter knowledge, we are implementing The Leader In Me throughout the district.

The Leader in Me is a Franklin Covey program that teaches 21st-century leadership and life skills to students and creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader. https://www.leaderinme.org/

2016 – 2017 Implemented Leader In Me at Garfield & Stevenson

2017 – 2018 Implementing LEAD (the middle school and high school version of Leader In Me) at HMS; Connecting Leader In Me to curriculum at Garfield & Stevenson

2018 – 2018 – Implementing LEAD at HHS; Connecting Leader In Me to curriculum at HMS

Career & College Ready

We also offer opportunities that support our students in being both career and college ready:

Our C-TEC partnership begins is 7th grade with our Career Connections course and continues through 12th grade with opportunities to develop job skills

Project Prepare allows students to explore local, skilled jobs that they can begin right after high school or after attending C-TEC

Project Search through Licking Memorial Health Systems enables students with disabilities to gain and maintain employment through training and career exploration

Our Personal Finance course for Sophomores helps them understand the cost of living and how to plan for expenses they’ll face when they graduate

College Credit Plus offerings allow our high school students to get a jump on college by earning college credit while they’re still in high school

Advanced Placement options challenge students who are headed to college, preparing them for college courses and workload

The College & Career Readiness (CCR) course for Juniors & Seniors teaches students to create resumes, complete job and college applications, interview and much more

Making Learning Real (and fun!)

We leverage unique application experiences to help our students understand how what they are learning in the classroom works in real life. These experiences also make learning fun. Why fun? You may ask. Learning requires repetition and dedication. If the experience is fun, students will stay curious and keep coming back for more. Some of the experiences we offer include:

At Camp Ohio, Seniors act as counselors for our 5th graders guiding them in completing challenges that build problem-solving, collaboration and team work skills

Our 8th graders get to experience history and government first hand on their trip to Washington, DC

STEMfest at The Works science and technology center creates an opportunity for students to compete with others schools in science, technology, engineering, and math challenges each year

Our extracurricular programs and clubs create opportunities for our students to leverage their individual talents and develop new skills. One of the great things about being a small school, is that our students have the opportunity to participate in multiple activities, rounding out their skillset and allowing them to excel in many areas. Our programs and clubs include: